Wells Fargo Breakaways Sign With Dynasty

Dynasty Financial Partners has won another round in the high-stakes battle for breakaway advisors.

Concentus Wealth Advisors, a suburban Philadelphia team who managed over $300 million as Strid Wealth Management Group, has left Wells Fargo Advisors to join outsourcer Dynasty's network of high-end advisory firms.

Dynasty has been competing with such roll-up and aggregator firms as HighTower Advisors, Focus Financial Partners and United Capital to attract successful breakaway practices. After falling short of earlier goals, the company has hired Ed Friedman, a top executive at HighTower for three years, and made business development a priority for 2014.

Concentus principal Erik Strid says he talked to HighTower and Focus but went with Dynasty because the firm's partners wanted "control of our destiny -- we wanted to own our own equity."

While some breakaways have encountered difficulties leaving large firms, Strid says that because his group was on Wells' quasi-independent Profit Formula platform, he expects the giant bank to "play nice" following the group's protocol resignation earlier this week.

"We've discussed the situation with our attorneys and feel comfortable with what we've done," Strid says. "Wells has always respected the advisors' relationship with clients."

FAMILY MONEY

Concentus will continue what it calls a "family office-style approach," targeting wealthy families with investable assets of at least $1 million, Strid says. "Our specialty is dealing with family issues such as transferring wealth and the family's values to the next generation," he adds.

Strid's team itself is a family affair, including his father and brother, principals Gerald Zeke Strid and Paul Strid. Erik Strid joined Wachovia in 2003 after spending 10 years at Merrill Lynch; Wachovia was then acquired by Wells in 2009.

Concentus advisors Nathan Hayward and Thomas Greco, have also left Wells Fargo. A Wells Fargo spokesperson says the Strid Group did not have non-compete agreements and that the company does not comment on departures.